1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bump bonding apparatus for forming bumps on semiconductor pellets.
2. Prior Art
In a bump bonding apparatus, for instance, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. H2-273945 and H7-86286 and also in Japanese Patent Application Publication (Kokoku) No. H4-41519, after a ball is formed on the tip of a bonding wire (merely called "wire"), the wire is pressed against the electrode of a semiconductor pellet and then cut from the root portion of the ball, thus forming a bump on the electrode of the semiconductor pellet.
A conventional bump bonding apparatus as described above has a loader section and an unloader section provided one on each side of a bonding stage. A tray which accommodates therein semiconductor pellets is sent from the loader section to the front of the bonding stage, a semiconductor pellet is then picked up from the tray by a pick-up means, placed on a positioning stage and then positioned by a positioning means. After this, the semiconductor pellet is picked up by the pick-up means, placed on the bonding stage, and a bump is applied. The semiconductor pellet that has a bump thus made is then picked up by the pick-up means and returned to where it was originally accommodated in the tray.
This operation is repeated until bumps are applied to all of the semiconductor pellets in the tray, upon which the tray is moved to the unloader section.
In the above prior art, the loader section and unloader section are provided one on each side of the bonding stage. Accordingly, when, for example, a bump shaping stage that shapes up the bumps of the semiconductor pellets to which bumps have been applied is installed, or when an inspection stage that inspects the semiconductor pellets to which bumps have been applied is installed, these stages need to be installed between the bonding stage and the unloader section. However, this arrangement makes the bonding apparatus large in size. On the other hand, the apparatus becomes more expensive if an inspection apparatus having the above-described inspection stage is installed separately.